Product Description

Today my name is colorful.
Yesterday my name was dead souls.
Tomorrow my name will be lively spirits.
My friends think my name is fire.
The police think my name is burden.
My parents think my name is symphony.
Secretly I know my name is anything I want it to be.

Paint Me Like I Am is a collection of poems by teens who have taken part in writing programs run by a national nonprofit organization called WritersCorps. To read the words of these young people is to hear the diverse voices of teenagers everywhere.

Included are a foreward by acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni, an essay from Kevin Powell, another poet associated with WritersCorps, and writing tips from WritersCorps instructors.

WritersCorps was started in 1994 to help at-risk youth in three American urban centers: San Francisco, Washington, DC, and New York City (the Bronx). Thousands of children and teenagers have since benefited from finding creative expression through writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60775 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-01
• Released on: 2003-02-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-WritersCorps works with disadvantaged youth, encouraging teens to express themselves through writing and recording voices that might otherwise not be heard. The young people have a lot to say about race, drugs, abuse, and self-image, as seen in these honest and sometimes raw poems. There are some good metaphors here ("Bodies sprawled along the shelter's floor-,/like sloppy cursive writing-" "I'm a sleepy flower,/and the ground waves at me"). "Alone in a darkness that laughs in your face," one poem notes. All the contributors are intensely aware of "self." One girl writes, "When I feel like I'm going to fall apart,/I hold my ribs, all the way around-/I hold brightness and shadows in/the hollow where my ribs meet-/I hold my ribs, until I feel solid." As in any anthology, there are some literary jewels and some less-poetic but more openly honest rants. There is much to learn from these young people.
Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. "I am the Great Wall sleeping on the land." "I'm the broken pieces on the floor." "My name is furious." "Secretly, I know my name is anything / I want it to be." The teen voices in these poems, collected from the WritersCorps youth program, are LOUD--raging, defiant, giddy, lusty, and hopeful. Grouped into arbitrary categories, the poems explore identity, creative expression, family, neighborhood, drugs, and relationships. They're rough, sometimes cliched, sometimes forgettable. But the brave experiences and "rawdog emotions," as Kevin Powell writes, are what will stay with readers. "I'm rich baby / Ever since you died," writes a girl after she loses her drug-addicted boyfriend. In "Leaving China," Jeff Miao writes, "To say good-bye / Words sick at my heart / The tears would not drop out." A foreword from Nikki Giovanni rounds out this moving collection, which also includes a few thoughtful writing exercises. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Edgy, mysterious and assertive" -- Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews

A Hit or Miss
To be honest, I felt rather bored while reading, "Paint Me Like I Am." Being thirteen, I was quickly compelled to assume from the start that I was going to immediately relate to every poem, and every word written. From reading the description, I had been familiarized with the book as, "True, honest, and real teens with real issues." The only issues I found were temporary broken hearts from relationships. A lot of the material was repetitive, I found many lines copied from famous movies, or books. These poems many unfortunate grammar turn-ups, which made the compesition some what confusing and un-flattering. Juvenile would be an understatement, as most of these young inexperienced, first time poets talked of how terrible their lives were, and how the boy they liked would never like them.

Some poems were good. I shouldn't lie about that. As one boy expresses his fear of his step dad, through saying the F word only about twenty times, it was at times difficult to grasp any such meaning of the writing, but his story stayed in your mind for a good while.

If I am correct, "Paint Me Like I am" was created by Writers Corps, a corporation which is stationed in three different cities in America. Their main goal is to help children and teens find their "creative side in writing." These children have gone through hard-times, and tough childhoods.

These kids seem to have utterly terrible life-altering stories to tell. Unfortunately though, through the failed attempts to rhyme, and the general loss of words, their poems, in my opinion, would have been better off as a bunch of short stories.

-Nicole

Paint Me Like I Am
In her foreword, award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni urges readers to remember that:

We need poetry...We deserve poetry

We owe it to ourselves to recreate ourselves

And find a different if not better way to live

WritersCorps has been bringing poetry and literacy to at-risk youth in Bronx, NY, Washington D.C. and San Francisco since 1994. The poems in this collection show some of the writing exercises used and vivid examples of excellent poetry from many of the youths in the program.

Anyone interested in writing should begin with this book. The exercises invite creative expression through a writing journal, imagining oneself in a room and describing feelings, among other activities.

While writers will find plenty to inspire them, reading through the poetry from the Writerscorps teens will leave no one untouched. Stories of pain leap from the carefully chosen words of poetry in titles about immigration, fights and abuse. Also strong are examples of hope, celebration of nature, friends and life. Everyday tales of hip-hop shoes, friends, jazz and dirty hands are also included. It's all there.

From the title poem by Delia Garcia, San Francisco:

Can you see the face telling you paint me happy,

Paint me with life, but most of all

Paint me free.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Paint Me Like I Am
Paint Me Like I Am features the teen poems selected from the over 40,000 people who have participated in the WritersCorp program. Centered in San Francisco, Washington D. C. and New York, WritersCorps is a program that encourages established poets to share their skills and motivation in improving the lives of economically disadvantaged youths. Having started in 1994, WritersCorps had a large field of poems to choose from and the quality and breadth of poems reflects its broad base. The poems do reflect teen issues such as young love, angst and struggles with authority figures, but they also reflect larger poetic issues such as love of family, nature and place in the universe. The quality of writing in this volume is very high. In addition, the volume is decorated with light grey backgrounds that vary from graffiti to faces. There is a strong introduction by world class poet Nikki Giovanni and quotations and poetic tips by famous authors throughout. With its strong, contemporary urban feel and high quality writing, Paint Me Like I Am is highly recommended for all poetry collections and should be strongly considered for any teen section.